Waters (NYSE:WAT) Updates Q2 Earnings Guidance

Waters (NYSE:WAT) issued an update on its second quarter earnings guidance on Tuesday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of $2.50-2.60 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.76. The company issued revenue guidance of down 4.5-6.5% yr/yr to ~$692.8-707.6 million, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $729.41 million. Waters also updated its FY24 guidance to $11.75-12.05 EPS.

Waters Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of WAT traded down $2.26 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $323.80. The company had a trading volume of 398,469 shares, compared to its average volume of 417,886. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The stock has a market cap of $19.20 billion, a PE ratio of 30.01, a P/E/G ratio of 6.39 and a beta of 0.98. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $333.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $310.76. Waters has a 1-year low of $231.90 and a 1-year high of $363.80.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $636.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $635.57 million. Waters had a net margin of 21.72% and a return on equity of 81.30%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.49 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Waters will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on WAT. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Waters from $300.00 to $295.00 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Waters from $319.00 to $312.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Waters from $330.00 to $332.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Waters from $350.00 to $358.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Waters from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an in-line rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waters currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $306.70.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waters

In other Waters news, Director Linda Baddour sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.54, for a total value of $177,770.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 2,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $799,965. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

About Waters

Waters Corporation provides analytical workflow solutions in Asia, the Americas, and Europe. It operates through two segments: Waters and TA. The company designs, manufactures, sells, and services high and ultra-performance liquid chromatography, as well as mass spectrometry (MS) technology systems and support products, including chromatography columns, other consumable products, and post-warranty service plans.